Saturday, December 20, 2014

This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 18 December 2014.

Reynaldo Paz Mayes, a regional TV station owner and presenter, was
gunned down in a sports centre in the northern city of Comayagua on 15
December. Reporters Without Borders urges the authorities to examine the
possibility that his murder was linked to his journalistic work.

Paz's programme on RPM TV Canal 28, the station he owned, often
touched on sensitive issues such as impunity, and he had received
threats in connection with the opinions he expressed on the air. He was
also a member of the opposition party LIBRE.

The police nonetheless say they think he was killed for his pistol, which was not found at the scene of the murder.

“We call on the authorities to carry out an exhaustive and
independent investigation into Paz's murder and to not rule out the
possibility that it was connected to his journalistic activities,” said
Claire San Filippo, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Americas
desk.

“They must end the unacceptable impunity for crimes of violence
against journalists in Honduras. This murder is a tragic reminder of the
need to quickly create a mechanism for protecting journalists and human
rights defenders that is appropriate to the needs, and to give it the
required financial and human resources.”

Freedom of information has declined dramatically since a June 2009
coup d'état and Honduras is now one of the western hemisphere's deadliest countries for journalists, with at least 27 killed in a clear or probable connection with their work since 2000.

Honduras is ranked 129th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

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